Years after mother’s murder, Belleville woman now mourns slain brother
The sister of a 41-year-old man found dead of gunshot wounds Friday night in East St. Louis wants people to know that he had a loving family and wasn’t homeless, as authorities initially believed.
Charline Byrd said her brother, Terence E. LaShea, didn’t like to stay at the family’s Washington Park home, where he was surrounded by belongings and memories of his mother, Bridgette Williams, who was murdered seven years ago at age 56.
“My brother was just wandering,” Byrd said Tuesday. “He was in deep depression. He was troubled. He wanted to be out in society. He was a people person. He liked to be around people.”
The St. Clair County coroner’s office pronounced LaShea dead at 11:22 p.m. Friday at 442 N. 26th St. in East St. Louis. Coroner Calvin Dye Sr. said Saturday that LaShea was believed to be homeless.
Illinois State Police are investigating the death as a homicide, Trooper Genelle Jones, a public information officer, said Tuesday.
ISP investigators declined to comment on whether LaShea was found inside or outside the house or to provide any details beyond the following emailed statement:
“(Special agents) were requested by the East St. Louis Police Department to conduct a death investigation after a deceased male was found with gunshot wounds to the body. This investigation is in its infancy and there is no further information available at this time.”
Byrd also declined to comment on the investigation.
She described her brother as a talented tattoo artist who attended East St. Louis Senior High School. He didn’t graduate but later took classes and earned a GED.
“He had a loving heart, a trusting heart, a kind heart,” said Byrd, 37, who works in home health care. “He had the biggest, brightest smile. It could light up an entire room.”
LaShea was unmarried and had no children, but he was close to his large extended family, according to his sister. The family is planning a private memorial service.
The body of Bridgette Williams was found in John Thornton Memorial Park in Washington Park at 2:38 a.m. July 10, 2019, police reported at the time. She had been shot multiple times.
Family and friends described Williams as a kind and gentle person, always willing to help others. She earned money by cleaning homes and businesses and ran errands for older people.
The case was being investigated by the local police department and Illinois State Police. On Tuesday, a woman who answered the phone at the Washington Park Police Department said she couldn’t give a status update.
“I wouldn’t know because our records got burned up in a fire in 2021,” she said. “We lost a lot of records.”
Also Tuesday, Trooper Jayme Buford, an ISP public information officer, reported that the Williams case was “open and ongoing.” Investigators declined further comment.
“I’ve been working on this for seven years, and I’m getting no answers,” Byrd said. “But I will continue to fight. I’m never giving up. I’m going to fight with every last breath ... to get to the bottom of this and to get justice for my mom and my brother.”
